Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Ireland's most famous sail training vessel, the Asgard II, has sunk off the coast of France. The five crew and 20 trainees on board abandoned ship early this morning after issuing distress calls last night. It is not yet know…
Ger O'Rourke's Volvo 70 limped back to dock in Cork last night to effect repairs on hydraulic systems. The first-generation Volvo Ocean Race boat was escorted into the Haulbowline naval base just after 8pm last night by a local RIB.
Ireland's Paralympians have completed five races in both the SKUD18 and Sonar classes at Qingdao, and are enjoying a rest day today. Ireland's teams lie 10th and 11th in the overall standings.
Every now and then a spokesperson's surname will encapsulate exactly what they're promoting. So when we got an email about the Lough Derg's Classic Boat regatta from one Eleanor Hooker, it just had to feature.
After a two-year voyage that has seen them visit some of the world's most remote spots. Peter Maxwell and partner Geraldine Foley initially headed for Australia, but took in Cape Horn, Antarctica, Kerguelen and Nova Scotia on their uniqe circumnavigation.
Ireland's windsurfers, the upstanding citizens of the sailing world, drew their slalom season to a close in Galway last weekend, with close to 300 spectators watching the 50+ competitors streak along a slalom course off Silver Strand.
The first race in the GreenWorks-sponsored Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club starts this Sunday, beginning another eagerly anticipated six-race series for the 180 boats expected to compete across 11 classes.
The Irish Times sailing column reports this morning that Ger O'Rourke's round the world entry is back on course after an eleventh hour sponsor has been signed.
Red Bay Boats in County Antrim has cancelled its annual trip to Ardbeg distillery in Scotland for the second time this year. Postponed in May due to bad weather the RIB trip has been cancelled again this weekend. It is…
Several boat owners in marinas in Lough Derg have been relieved of their outboards, as a spate fo engine theft has hit the lake and this week the MGM marine premises in Longford has also been hit.
In any yacht race if the wind changes direction just about anything canhappen. The last few months have been like that for Ger O'Rourke,chasing his dream of entering next month's Volvo Ocean Race. It's anagainst-all-the-odds story, and that's even before…
SOUNDINGS – September/October 2008 Total beauty is as rare in boats as anything else. And so too, in 2008, were classic summer evenings. Yet this past season, Soundings managed the combination of beautiful boats with sublime summer evenings on two…
SEASCAPES – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 I find the world of cities and big towns increasingly artificial. I prefer coastal towns and villages, where the sense of life and what is important is influenced by the sea which laps the shores. Coastal…
SEASCAPES – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 As another sailing season moves to its conclusion with a generally poor summer where weather was concerned, one of the topics regularly debated has been the accuracy of weather forecasts. Neither Met Eireann nor any other…
Magnificent stained glass windows, a bell tower giving panoramic views over Dun Laoghaire, over 170 years of history... Dun Laoghaire’s Mariner’s Church, which houses the Maritime Museum, is close to the final phase of the restoration it’s undergone since 2006.…
Baltimore Lifeboats launched for third time in a week
3rd September 2008 News From the Afloat.ie Archive
The RNLI all weather lifeboat /Hilda Jarrett/ and inshore lifeboat /Bessie/ were requested by Valencia Coastguard at 15:37 to go to the assistance of a yacht that had broken from her moorings in Crookhaven Harbour, West Cork.
It’s been ninety years since the tragic sinking of the mail steamer Leinster shortly after leaving Dun Laoghaire. Over 500 people drowned in the worst maritime disaster in the Irish Sea, many of them local postal workers who sorted the…
Marcus Hutchinson is New Race Communications Director
3rd September 2008 News From the Afloat.ie Archive
The Volvo Ocean Race has announced the appointment of a new Communications Director, Dubliner Marcus Hutchinson, to replace Reg Gratton from the beginning of September.
BOOK REVIEW: Traditional Boats of Ireland History, Folklore & Construction
3rd September 2008 News From the Afloat.ie Archive
Beautifully illustrated and drawing substantially on local knowledge and oral history, ‘Traditional Boats of Ireland’ reveals much about Ireland’s social and economic history: the harnessing of the sea’s resources; and how ideas as well as people, goods and animals were…
The RNLI all weather lifeboat Hilda Jarrett was tasked by Valencia Coastguard at 13:34 to go to the assistance of a yacht adrift in difficult weather conditions.